Hippocrates (460 BC – 370 BC), the father of medicine, had insisted that the physician has to study the patient, not just illness. In treating patients, he should do everything to assist the nature, the great healer, to affect cure. He advocated similimum. Rig Veda, the source book from which ayurveda originated, states that ‘a cure for poison lies in the poison itself’. It was by an accident that the German physician Dr. Christian Fredericke Samuel Hahnemann came across a similar statement by Dr. Cullen that the Cinchona barks’ decoction (which helps to relieve the symptoms of malaria) causes intermittent fever in healthy persons. To understand the effects of Cinchona bark in intermittent fevers, Hahnemann experimented on his own self. Intake of Cinchona resulted in occurrence of condition simulating intermittent fevers. This effect that Cinchona bark produced on him gave birth to the idea of homoeopathy. Hahnemann continued to experiment on himself and on others, close to him, noting that every substance he took produced definite distinct symptoms. He further noted that no two substances produced, exactly the same set of symptoms. Each substance provoked its own unique pattern of symptoms, both on physical and mental plane. At first, Hahnemann tested substances commonly used as medicines in his time (such as Antimony and Rhubarb) and also, poisons like Arsenic and Belladonna. To avoid harmful effects from normal doses of the substances he diluted each medicine until he reached the greatest dilution that would still produce a response. These experiments were called provings and led him to observe and describe the basic principles of homoeopathic medicine. One can observe the similarity of basic concepts of homoeopathy for curing diseases with Hippocrates’s statement and the Rig Veda. Dr. Hahnemann today is considered as father of experimental pharmacology and father of homoeopathy.

According to World Health Organisation, homoeopathy is the second largest system of medicine in the world. The etymological origin of the word homoeopathy, which means ‘Similar sufferings’, is from Greek words hómoios (similar) and páthos (suffering). Homoeopathy is also spelled as Homœopathy and Homeopathy. As per the primary principle of Homoeopathy, the ‘Law of Similars’ or the ‘natural law of healing’, diseases are treated by medicines, which are capable of producing symptoms similar to those of the disease in healthy persons. The term “homoeopathy” was coined Dr. Hahnemann himself and first appeared in print in 1807. The term allopathy was also coined by him to differentiate homoeopathy.

Key concepts of homoeopathy include (i) homoeopathy seeks to stimulate the body’s defense mechanisms and processes so as to prevent or treat illness, (ii) treatment involves giving very small doses of substances called remedies that, according to homoeopathy, would produce the same or similar symptoms of illness in healthy people if they were given in larger doses and (iii) treatment in homoeopathy is individualized (tailored to each person). Homoeopathic practitioners select remedies according to a total picture of the patient, including symptoms, lifestyle, emotional and mental states, and other factors.

Homeopathy use around the world

Worldwide

• Worldwide, over 200 million people use homeopathy on a regular basis.^1, 2
• Homeopathy is included in the national health systems of a number of countries e.g. Brazil, Chile, India, Mexico, Pakistan, Switzerland.

India

• India leads in terms of number of people using homeopathy, with 100 million people depending solely on homeopathy for their medical care.¹
• There are over 200,000 registered homeopathic doctors currently, with approximately 12,000 more being added every year.³

Europe

• 100 million EU citizens, some 29% of the EU’s population, use homeopathic medicines in their day-to-day healthcare.²
• Homeopathy is practised in 40 out of 42 European countries.⁴

UK

• 10% of people in the UK use homeopathy – an estimated 6 million people.⁵
  
• In Britain, the market for homeopathy is growing at around 20% per year.  In 2007, it was estimated to be worth £38m, and is projected to reach £46m in 2012.⁶
• There are ~ 400 doctors in the UK that use homeopathy, regulated by the Faculty of Homeopathy and promoted by the British Homeopathic Association.⁷
• There are ~1,500 professional homeopaths (non-medically qualified homeopaths) in the UK,⁸ regulated by the Society of Homeopaths (65%), Alliance of Registered Homeopaths and Homeopathic Medical Association. They largely operate in private practice outside the NHS.
• See NHS spending on homeopathy

US

• According to the National Institute of Health, over 6 million people in the United States use homeopathy, mainly for self-care of specific health conditions.
• Of those who use homeopathy, ~1 million are children and over 5 million are adults.^9, 10

REFERENCES-

1. Prasad R. Homoeopathy booming in India. Lancet, 2007; 370:1679-80 | Full Text
2. Homeopathic medicinal products. Commission report to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Directives 92/73 and 92/74 | Full Text
3. Ghosh AK. A short history of the development of homeopathy in India. Homeopathy, 2010;99(2):130-6 | PubMed
4. Legal Status of Traditional Medicine and Complementary/Alternative Medicine: A Worldwide Review, World Health Organization, 2001 | Full Text
5. Professor Woods of the MHRA, response to Q211, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee hearing of evidence in preparation of Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy report (London: The Stationery Office Limited, 2010) | Full Text
6. Mintel, Complementary Medicines, April 2007 | Link
7. Faculty of Homeopathy | Link
8. Society of Homeopaths | Link
9. Black LI, et al. Use of Complementary Health Approaches Among Children Aged 4–17 Years in the United States: National Health Interview Survey, 2007–2012. National Health Statistics Reports, 2015; 78: February | Link
10. Clarke TC, et al. Trends in the Use of Complementary Health Approaches Among Adults: United States, 2002–2012. National Health Statistics Reports, 2015; 79: February | Link

Experimental research

Many laboratory studies have shown ultra-high dilution homeopathic medicines having biological effects. Here we present some of the highest quality and most replicated experiments:

Basophil degranulation experiment

28 scientific papers have been published on this topic, 23 of which reported positive results. 11 publications were judged to be of high quality, of which 8 reported positive results.¹

Effects of homeopathic thyroxine on tadpole development

In amphibians, the hormone thyroxine stimulates metamorphosis. Over almost 20 years, various teams have tested homeopathic dilutions of thyroxine on frogs by adding it to the bathing water tadpoles are kept in.

Although exact results varied, 20/22 experiments have found the same trend – that Thyroxine 30x (diluted beyond Avogadro’s limit using the homeopathic manufacturing process) inhibits metamorphosis.

The challenge of reproducibility

Although these laboratory studies demonstrate that homeopathic medicines can exert biological effects, so far no positive result has been stable enough to be reproduced by all researchers every time. Close to 75% of in vitro experiments on ultra-high dilutions show the substance having an effect, and nearly 75% of replications have been positive.¹

As scientists gain more experience experimenting on ultra-high dilutions, they are gradually understanding what factors are influencing the results and consequently, reproducibility is improving ⁹. The basophil and frog experiments described above have proved the most repeatable so far and progress is also being made in finding the most repeatable plant-based experiments.

However, until an experiment is achieved in which every team gets exactly the same effect every time, this field will remain controversial. This is the ongoing challenge for basic science researchers in homeopathy.

Dr Stephan Baumgartner, University of Bern, Swtizerland

Ground-breaking work testing homeopathic medicines on plants:

and the rapid progress being made by those at the cutting edge of basic research in homeopathy:

REFERENCES-